Marie-Fey glanced at Kilan as Kilan continued to study the key. "Alright, so what does that mean?" she asked.

"You've heard of the fairytale Blue Beard, yes?"

"Sure, in passing, it was hardly a favourite. I've never heard of a Blue Beard Curse though."

Kilan shook his head. "It's a way of cataloguing for Storytellers. It's not that there's a specific curse, it just means I have a better understanding of where the story fits in alongside those already officially collected. Like, uh, a Beauty and The Beast curse. If I told another Storyteller that in relation to Beldon and Luka, they would instantly understand. No one ever collected their story, there's no official record of it, history will forget it, but it can be catalogued. Themes and stories come around again and again throughout time. Little Red Riding Hood, The Snow Queen, Donkey Skin. Even unique names reappear. Cinderella? Thumbelina? The same names reappear again and again and... enchantment just means we accept hearing these names time and again without thinking about it too hard. You'll meet a Thumbelina and not think anything of the fact that you heard her name in a fairytale."

He shrugged absently, setting the key aside and opening his bag, pulling his notebook out.

"Enchantment is a strange, awkward thing, those who spend their lives chasing it need ways to track it."

He pulled a quill out next and then pointed the feather tip at the key.

"What caught my attention here is that red staining appearing again. That's a key feature to the Collected Blue Beard story – pun unintended."

Marie-Fey frowned at Kilan and he shot her a grin.

"In the original story, Blue Beard's new wife unlocks the one door that he specifically ordered her not to open. Inside, she finds the bodies of his former wives, all of whom he murdered because they disobeyed his one instruction. Shocked at the sight, the new wife drops the key in a pool of blood. She then relocks the doors, returns to her room and tries to wash the blood off. The key has a spell on it however, meaning that no matter how often it's washed, the blood will always return, betraying her to her husband and revealing that she entered the forbidden room. Unlike her predecessors, she manages to stall for time long enough that her sister can call on their brothers, who arrive in time to kill Blue Beard before he kills her."

"So, the original Blue Beard is dead?"

"Very much so," Kilan nodded, reaching for the key again, "Which makes this staining interesting. There are lots of similar stories, some collected, some not, but I haven't heard about this staining in them."

As he started to flick through his notebook, Marie-Fey looked at the key.

"Why did he do it?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did Blue Beard kill his wives for entering that room?"

"Hmm, he wanted someone he could trust?"

Marie-Fey was quiet for a moment, then blinked and stared at him. "That's it?"

"There's no accounting for disturbances of the mind in fairytales," Kilan pointed out. "Enchantment played a role in that story, without a doubt, but enchantment has a way of leaking through the cracks of the psyche and twisting the already fragile mind. It's one of the reasons I like to go back to Rose Castle when I can."

Marie-Fey's brow creased at that, looking at him in confusion and he smiled at her, tapping his temple.

"Beldon isn't always as sound as he appears," he said, "He's my dear friend and I care about him deeply. He's surrounded by enchantment, all the time, and war shakes him to his core. Enchantment almost swallowed him whole once, but he scrambled free. I don't want to see it happen again, so I like to keep tabs."

Marie-Fey gaped at him, horrified. "I never heard about this," she cried.

"Well, he hasn't heard about someone poisoning you," Kilan pointed out.

"That is completely different."

"Not really. It's private. It's a vulnerability. It's not something you feel ready to share."

"What happened?"

"Beldon hasn't even shared all the details with Luka yet, let alone me," Kilan said, then put his finger to his lips and grinned. "We Storytellers can't always share every detail of every story we discover."

Marie-Fey stared at him, then sat back. "How do you not let the enchantment creep in? You're around it even more than Beldon."

"I spend a lot of time protecting my mind and heart. Both Storytellers and Removers do it. Those born into Families have a natural level of protection and we cultivate healthy mindsets. Those who fall into the profession have to spend a lot more conscious effort protecting themselves."

"Like Briar?"

"Exactly."

"Don't you worry about her when you haven't seen her in so long?"

"Carlos will look after her, I know he will," Kilan said, then reached for the key, heading off any further discussion. "This is all irrelevant however, what matters now is what curse you've become tangled up in via marriage and what this means for you. A Blue Beard Curse means wives die. You say his former wives have died."

"The Sultana said they both passed after six months of marriage."

"And yet you are still alive after two years."

"He's never taken the remotest bit of interest in me," Marie-Fey said, "I may simply not play into whatever his plans are?"

"Why did he marry you then?"

"Zaydan wanted to ask for my hand originally," Marie-Fey said, Kilan glancing at her, "Apparently their mother refused and had Zahir approach my father for the prospect of marriage instead."

"I remember, your father was so unhappy with that match," Kilan said, absently.

"I was insistent though. So determined to get myself out of one bad situation, I fell into another."

"You're not to blame for either situation."

"Thank you."

"But maybe fate played a hand in pulling you here."

Marie-Fey looked at Kilan in confusion.

"I knew of the woman who was your mother-in-law. What I knew of her, I cannot see Lady Shala denying Lord Zaydan something like the chance to ask for your hand in marriage, if he really wanted to try. I know Lord Zaydan was her favourite. There was always tension between Lord Zahir and his mother. I wonder if she was somehow playing the hand of fate, pulling strings so that you and Lord Zahir married. That wouldn't be his choice, that would be family pressure, which is powerful regardless of how powerful you yourself are. But you wouldn't be part of his plan if that's how you came into the marriage. Think about it, you're a Leigh Sibling. You may not truly know how much weight that name carries in the world of Enchantment, but if he's involved in it, he knows. The Southern Wind is not a ruling deity in this land, but she is still impossibly important on the world stage and your brother is her second-in-command. If you aren't here to play a role in Lord Zahir's plans, perhaps you're here to play a role in Lady Shala's plans. You cannot simply be killed. The fallout would be horrific – both magical and political. That woman who was trying to kill you, she didn't know why she needed to kill you, only that it had to be done. She didn't know the full picture, probably because whatever is happening is blurred by magic."

Kilan tapped his lips with the tip of his quill, thinking over everything he'd just said.

"It would make sense," he said, "Without knowing his plans, I can't be entirely sure, but it would make sense."

"That ghost told Zaydan to trust Shala," Marie-Fey said.

"What?"

"The ghost, the one who had been following me the most. When she appeared after I was attacked in the desert, she told Zaydan to trust Shala. She said that Shala knew she broke Zaydan's heart, but she asked him to trust her, that she knew best."

Kilan's eyes widened. "So, then that must mean—"

"Zaydan asked her something strange," Marie-Fey muttered, her brow furrowing.

"Strange?"

"The ghost told him the message was from his mother. And Zaydan asked 'who?'" She looked at Kilan. "Why would he ask that?"

Kilan stared at her for a long, long moment, then his eyes slowly widened. His lips parted as he let out a soft breath. "Because this isn't the first time they've been alive," he muttered.